Milan 2014 Preview: Paul Smith Dresses Up Hans Wegner

Happy birthday, Hans Wegner. The great Danish designer would have been 100 today, and to celebrate his centenary, Carl Hansen & Son, the manufacturer of Wegner’s iconic furniture, will roll out a limited edition Wegner seating collection in Milan next week, all smartly outfitted by British fashion designer Paul Smith. — Continue reading …

Happy birthday, Hans Wegner. The great Danish designer would have been 100 today, and to celebrate his centenary, Carl Hansen & Son, the manufacturer of Wegner’s iconic furniture, will roll out a limited edition Wegner seating collection in Milan next week, all smartly outfitted by British fashion designer Paul Smith.

Smith, who’s having something of a banner year—his current retrospective at London’s Design Museum continues to be a crowd favorite—is best known for his preoccupation with brightly colored stripes, and dutifully accords Wegner “an injection of vibrancy” with two signature fabrics created in collaboration with textile house Maharam.

Stripes, a pattern comprised of slender vertical bands of varying colors, and Big Stripes, a markedly broader, scaled-up motif, are applied to upholstery for Wegner seating, including the unmistakable Wishbone, Shell and Wing chairs. Well, if anyone has earned his stripes, we’d say it’s Hans Wegner.